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Dido ( ; , ), also known as Elissa ( , ), was the legendary founder and first queen of the Phoenician city-state of Carthage (located in modern Tunisia), in 814 BC. In most accounts, she was the queen of the Phoenician city-state of Tyre (today in Lebanon) who fled tyranny to found her own city in northwest Africa. Known only through ancient Greek and Roman sources, all of which were written well after Carthage's founding, her historicity remains uncertain. The oldest references to Dido are attributed to Timaeus, who was active around 300 BC, or about five centuries after the date given for the foundation of Carthage. Details about Dido's character, life, and role in the founding of Carthage are best known from the account given in Virgil's
epic Epic commonly refers to: * Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation * Epic film, a genre of film with heroic elements Epic or EPIC may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and medi ...
poem, the '' Aeneid,'' written around 20 BC, which tells the legendary story of the Trojan hero Aeneas. Dido is described as a clever and enterprising woman who flees her ruthless and autocratic brother,
Pygmalion Pygmalion or Pigmalion may refer to: Mythology * Pygmalion (mythology), a sculptor who fell in love with his statue Stage * ''Pigmalion'' (opera), a 1745 opera by Jean-Philippe Rameau * ''Pygmalion'' (Rousseau), a 1762 melodrama by Jean-Jacques ...
, after discovering that he was responsible for her husband's death. Through her wisdom and leadership, the city of Carthage is founded and made prosperous. Dido remains an enduring figure in Western culture and arts since the early Renaissance and into the 21st century. In the early 20th century, she was also chosen as a national symbol in Tunisian nationalism and so Tunisian women can be poetically referred to "Daughters of Dido". Dido (Elissa) has also been represented on Tunisian currency in 2006.


Name

Many names in the legend of Dido are of Punic origin, which suggests that the first Greek authors who mention this story have taken up Phoenician accounts. One suggestion is that ''Dido'' is an epithet from the same Semitic root as '' David'', which means "Beloved". Others state Didô means "the wanderer". According to Marie-Pierre Noël, "Elishat/Elisha" is a name repeatedly attested on Punic votives. It is composed of the Punic reflex of *ʾil- "god", the remote Phoenician creator god El, also a name for God in Judaism, and "‐issa", which could be either " ʾiš" ( 𐤀𐤎) means "fire", or another word for "woman". Other works state it is the feminine form of El. In Greek it appears as ''Theiossô'', which translates Élissa: ''el'' becoming ''theos''.


Early accounts

The person of Dido can be traced to references by Roman historians to
lost writings A lost work is a document, literary work, or piece of multimedia produced some time in the past, of which no surviving copies are known to exist. It can only be known through reference. This term most commonly applies to works from the classical ...
of Timaeus of
Tauromenium Taormina ( , , also , ; scn, Taurmina) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Messina, on the east coast of the island of Sicily, Italy. Taormina has been a tourist destination since the 19th century. Its beaches on ...
in Sicily (c. 356–260 BC). Ancient historians gave various dates, both for the foundation of Carthage and the foundation of Rome. Appian, in the beginning of his ''Punic Wars'', claims that Carthage was founded by a certain Zorus and Carchedon, but ''Zorus'' looks like an alternative transliteration of the city name ''Tyre,'' while ''Carchedon'' is just the Greek form of ''Carthage''. Timaeus made Carchedon's wife Elissa the sister of King
Pygmalion of Tyre Pygmalion (Ancient Greek: ; Latin: ), was king of Tyre from 831 to 785 BCE and a son of King Mattan I (840–832 BCE). During Pygmalion's reign, Tyre seems to have shifted the heart of its trading empire from the Middle East to the Mediterrane ...
. Archaeological evidence of settlement on the site of Carthage before the last quarter of the 8th century BC has yet to be found. Paucity of material for this period may be explained by rejection of the Greek Dark Age theory. That the city is named (''Qart-hadasht'', or "New City") at least indicates it was a colony. The only surviving full account before Virgil's treatment is that of Virgil's contemporary Gnaeus Pompeius Trogus in his ''Philippic histories'' as rendered in a digest or epitome made by Junianus Justinus in the 3rd century AD. Justin quoting or paraphrasing Trogus states (18.4–6), a king of Tyre whom Justin does not name, made his very beautiful daughter Dido and son Pygmalion his joint heirs. But on his death the people took Pygmalion alone as their ruler though Pygmalion was yet still a boy. Dido married Acerbas her uncle who as priest of Heracles—that is,
Melqart Melqart (also Melkarth or Melicarthus) was the tutelary god of the Phoenician city-state of Tyre and a major deity in the Phoenician and Punic pantheons. Often titled the "Lord of Tyre" (''Ba‘al Ṣūr''), he was also known as the Son of ...
—was second in power to King Pygmalion. Acerbas (Sicharbas, Zacherbas) can be equated with the Zikarbaal king of Byblos mentioned in the Egyptian ''Tale of Wenamon''. Rumor told that Acerbas had much wealth secretly buried and King Pygmalion had Acerbas murdered in hopes of gaining this wealth. Dido, desiring to escape Tyre, expressed a wish to move into Pygmalion's palace, but then ordered the attendants whom Pygmalion sent to aid in the move, to throw all Acerbas' bags of gold into the sea apparently as an offering to his spirit. In fact these bags contained only sand. Dido then persuaded the attendants to join her in flight to another land rather than face Pygmalion's anger when he discovered what had supposedly become of Acerbas' wealth. Some senators also joined her in her flight. The party arrived at Cyprus where the priest of Jupiter joined the expedition. There the exiles also seized about eighty young women who were prostituting themselves on the shore in order to provide wives for the men in the party. Eventually Dido and her followers arrived on the coast of North Africa where Dido asked the
Berber Berber or Berbers may refer to: Ethnic group * Berbers, an ethnic group native to Northern Africa * Berber languages, a family of Afro-Asiatic languages Places * Berber, Sudan, a town on the Nile People with the surname * Ady Berber (1913–196 ...
king
Iarbas Iarbas (or Hiarbas) was a Roman mythological character, who has appeared in works by various authors including Ovid and Virgil. The character is possibly based on a historical king of Numidia. In Roman mythology, Iarbas was the son of Jupiter Ha ...
for a small bit of land for a temporary refuge until she could continue her journeying, only as much land as could be encompassed by an oxhide. They agreed. Dido cut the oxhide into fine strips so that she had enough to encircle an entire nearby hill, which was therefore afterwards named ''Byrsa'' "hide". (This event is commemorated in modern mathematics: The " isoperimetric problem" of enclosing the maximum area within a fixed boundary is often called the "Dido Problem" in modern
calculus of variations The calculus of variations (or Variational Calculus) is a field of mathematical analysis that uses variations, which are small changes in functions and functionals, to find maxima and minima of functionals: mappings from a set of functions t ...
.) That would become their new home. Many of the local Berbers joined the settlement and both Berbers and envoys from the nearby Phoenician city of Utica urged the building of a city. In digging the foundations an ox's head was found, indicating a city that would be wealthy but subject to others. Accordingly, another area of the hill was dug instead where a horse's head was found, indicating that the city would be powerful in war. But when the new city of Carthage had been established and become prosperous, Iarbas, a native king of the Maxitani or Mauritani (manuscripts differ), demanded Dido for his wife or he would make war on Carthage. Still, she preferred to stay faithful to her first husband and after creating a ceremonial funeral pyre and sacrificing many victims to his spirit in pretense that this was a final honoring of her first husband in preparation for marriage to Iarbas, Dido ascended the pyre, announced that she would go to her husband as they desired, and then slew herself with her sword. After this self-sacrifice Dido was deified and was worshipped as long as Carthage endured. In this account, the foundation of Carthage occurred 72 years before the foundation of Rome.
Servius Servius is the name of: * Servius (praenomen), the personal name * Maurus Servius Honoratus, a late fourth-century and early fifth-century grammarian * Servius Tullius, the Roman king * Servius Sulpicius Rufus, the 1st century BC Roman jurist See ...
in his commentary on Virgil's '' Aeneid'' gives ''Sicharbas'' as the name of Dido's husband in early tradition.


Historicity and dating

The oxhide story which explains the name of the hill is most likely of Greek origin since ''Byrsa'' means "oxhide" in Greek, not in Punic. The name of the hill in Punic was probably just a derivation from
Semitic Semitic most commonly refers to the Semitic languages, a name used since the 1770s to refer to the language family currently present in West Asia, North and East Africa, and Malta. Semitic may also refer to: Religions * Abrahamic religions ** ...
''brt'' "fortified place". But that does not prevent other details in the story from being Carthaginian, albeit still not necessarily historical. Michael Grant in ''Roman Myths'' (1973) claims that "Dido-Elissa was originally a goddess", and that she was converted from a goddess into a mortal (if still legendary) queen sometime in the later fifth century BCE by a Greek writer. Others conjecture that Dido was indeed historical, as described in the following accounts. It is unknown who first combined the story of Dido with the tradition that connected Aeneas either with Rome or with earlier settlements from which Rome traced its origin. A fragment of an epic poem by
Gnaeus Naevius Gnaeus Naevius (; c. 270 – c. 201 BC) was a Roman epic poet and dramatist of the Old Latin period. He had a notable literary career at Rome until his satiric comments delivered in comedy angered the Metellus family, one of whom was consul. A ...
who died at Utica in 201 BC includes a passage which might or might not be part of a conversation between Aeneas and Dido.
Servius Servius is the name of: * Servius (praenomen), the personal name * Maurus Servius Honoratus, a late fourth-century and early fifth-century grammarian * Servius Tullius, the Roman king * Servius Sulpicius Rufus, the 1st century BC Roman jurist See ...
in his commentary (4.682; 5.4) cites Varro (1st century BC ) for a version in which Dido's sister Anna killed herself for love of Aeneas. Evidence for the historicity of Dido (which is a question independent of whether or not she ever met Aeneas) can be associated with evidence for the historicity of others in her family, such as her brother Pygmalion and their grandfather Balazeros. Both of these kings are mentioned, as well as Dido, in the list of Tyrian kings given in Menander of Ephesus's list of the kings of Tyre, as preserved in Josephus's '' Against Apion'', i.18. Josephus ends his quotation of Menander with the sentence "Now, in the seventh year of his ygmalion'sreign, his sister fled away from him and built the city of Carthage in Libya." The Nora Stone, found on Sardinia, has been interpreted by
Frank Moore Cross Frank Moore Cross Jr. (1921–2012) was the Hancock Professor of Hebrew and Other Oriental Languages Emeritus at Harvard University, notable for his work in the interpretation of the Dead Sea Scrolls, his 1973 ''magnum opus'' ''Canaanite Myth and ...
as naming Pygmalion as the king of the general who was using the stone to record his victory over the local populace. On paleographic grounds, the stone is dated to the 9th century BC. (Cross's translation, with a longer discussion of the Nora stone, is found in the Pygmalion article). If Cross's interpretation is correct, this presents inscriptional evidence substantiating the existence of a 9th-century-BC king of Tyre named (in Greek) Pygmalion. Several scholars have identified Baa‘li-maanzer, the king of Tyre who gave tribute to Shalmaneser III in 841 BC, with ''Ba‘al-'azor'' (Phoenician form of the name) or '' Baal-Eser/Balazeros'' (Greek form of the name), Dido's grandfather. This lends credibility to the account in Josephus/Menander that names the kings of Tyre from Abibaal and Hiram I down to the time of Pygmalion and Dido. Another possible reference to Balazeros is found in the ''Aeneid''. It was a common ancient practice of using the hypocoristicon or shortened form of the name that included only the divine element, so that the "Belus" that Virgil names as the father of Dido in the ''Aeneid'' may be a reference to her grandfather, Baal-Eser II/Balazeros. Classicist T. T. Duke suggests that instead it is a hypocoristicon of
Mattan I Mattan, Matan, or Mittin ruled Tyre from 840 to 832 BC, succeeding his father Baal-Eser II. He was the father of Pygmalion, king of Tyre from 831 to 785 BC, and of Dido, the legendary queen of Carthage. The primary information related to Mat ...
, who was also known as (, 'Gift of the Lord'). Even more important than the inscriptional and literary references supporting the historicity of Pygmalion and Dido are chronological considerations that give something of a mathematical demonstration of the veracity of the major feature of the Pygmalion/Dido saga, namely the flight of Dido from Tyre in Pygmalion's seventh year, and her eventual founding of the city of Carthage. Classical authors give two dates for the founding of Carthage. The first is that of Pompeius Trogus, mentioned above, that says this took place 72 years before the foundation of Rome. At least as early as the 1st century BC, and then later, the date most commonly used by Roman writers for the founding of Rome was 753 BC. This would place Dido's flight in 753 + 72 = 825 BC. Another tradition, that of the Greek historian Timaeus (c. 345–260 BC), gives 814 BC for the founding of Carthage. Traditionally most modern scholars have preferred the 814 date. However, the publication of the Shalmaneser text mentioning tribute from Baal-Eser II of Tyre in 841 BC caused a re-examination of this question, since the best texts of Menander/Josephus only allow 22 years from the accession of Baal-Eser/Balazeros until the seventh year of Pygmalion, and measuring back from 814 BC would not allow any overlap of Balazeros with the 841 tribute to Shalmaneser. With the 825 date for the seventh year of Pygmalion, however, Balazeros's last year would coincide with 841 BC, the year of the tribute. Additional evidence in favor of the 825 date is found in the statement of Menander, repeated by Josephus as corroborated from Tyrian court records ('' Against Apion'' i.17,18), that Dido's flight (or the founding of Carthage) occurred 143 years and eight months after Hiram of Tyre sent assistance to
Solomon Solomon (; , ),, ; ar, سُلَيْمَان, ', , ; el, Σολομών, ; la, Salomon also called Jedidiah (Hebrew language, Hebrew: , Modern Hebrew, Modern: , Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: ''Yăḏīḏăyāh'', "beloved of Yahweh, Yah"), ...
for the building of the Temple. Using the 825 date, this Tyrian record would then date the start of Temple construction in 969 or 968 BC, in agreement with the statement in 1 Kings 6:1 that Temple construction began in Solomon's fourth regnal year. Solomon's fourth year can be calculated as starting in the fall of 968 BC when using the widely accepted date of 931/930 BC for the division of the kingdom after the death of Solomon. These chronological considerations therefore definitely favor the 825 date over the 814 date for Dido's departure from Tyre. More than that, the agreement of this date with the timing of the tribute to Shalmaneser and the year when construction of the First Temple began provide evidence for the essential historicity of at least the existence of Pygmalion and Dido as well as their rift in 825 BC that eventually led to the founding of Carthage. According to J. M. Peñuela, the difference in the two dates for the foundation of Carthage has an explanation if we understand that Dido fled Tyre in 825 BC, but eleven years elapsed before she was given permission by the original inhabitants to build a city on the mainland, years marked by conflict in which the Tyrians first built a small city on an island in the harbor. Additional information about Dido's activities after leaving Tyre are found in the Pygmalion article, along with a summary of later scholars who have accepted Peñuela's thesis. If chronological considerations thus help to establish the basic historicity of Dido, they also serve to refute the idea that she could have had any liaison with Aeneas. Aeneas fought in the Trojan War, which is conventionally dated anywhere from the 14th to the 12th centuries BC, far too early for Aeneas to have been alive in the time of Dido. Even with the date of 864 BC that historical revisionist
David Rohl The New Chronology is an alternative chronology of the ancient Near East developed by English Egyptologist David Rohl and other researchers beginning with ''A Test of Time: The Bible - from Myth to History'' in 1995. It contradicts mainstream ...
gives for the end of the Trojan War, Aeneas would have been about 77 years old when Dido fled Tyre in 825 BC and 88 when she began to build Carthage in 814 (following Peñuela's reconstruction), hardly consistent with the romantic intrigues between Dido and Aeneas imagined by Virgil in the ''Aeneid''.


Virgil's ''Aeneid''

Virgil's references in the ''Aeneid'' generally agree with what Justin's epitome of Trogus recorded. Virgil names Belus as Dido's father, this Belus sometimes being called
Belus II Belus was a legendary king of Tyre in Virgil's ''Aeneid'' and other Latin works. He was said to have been the father of Dido of Carthage, Pygmalion of Tyre, and Anna.Virgil. ''Aeneid'' Book 1, Line 729. The historical father of these figures was t ...
by later commentators to distinguish him from Belus son of Poseidon and Libya in earlier Greek mythology. Classicist T. T. Duke suggests that this is a hypocoristicon of the historical father of Pygmalion and Dido,
Mattan I Mattan, Matan, or Mittin ruled Tyre from 840 to 832 BC, succeeding his father Baal-Eser II. He was the father of Pygmalion, king of Tyre from 831 to 785 BC, and of Dido, the legendary queen of Carthage. The primary information related to Mat ...
, also known as (, 'Gift of the Lord'). Virgil (1.343f) adds that the marriage between Dido and
Sychaeus Acerbas was a Tyrian priest of Hercules (that is, Melqart, the Tyrian Hercules), who married Elissa, the daughter of king Mattan I, and sister of Pygmalion. He was possessed of considerable wealth, which, knowing the avarice of Pygmalion, wh ...
, as Virgil calls Dido's husband, occurred while her father was still alive. Pygmalion slew Sychaeus secretly due to his wealth and Sychaeus appeared to Dido in a dream in which he told the truth about his death, urged her to flee the country, and revealed to her where his gold was buried. She left with those who hated or feared Pygmalion. None of these details contradicts Justin's epitome, but Virgil very much changes the import and many details of the story when he brings Aeneas and his followers to Carthage. (1.657f) Dido and Aeneas fall in love by the management of
Juno Juno commonly refers to: *Juno (mythology), the Roman goddess of marriage and queen of the gods *Juno (film), ''Juno'' (film), 2007 Juno may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional characters *Juno, in the film ''Jenny, Juno'' *Ju ...
and Venus, acting in concert, though for different reasons. (4.198f) When the rumour of the love affair comes to King
Iarbas Iarbas (or Hiarbas) was a Roman mythological character, who has appeared in works by various authors including Ovid and Virgil. The character is possibly based on a historical king of Numidia. In Roman mythology, Iarbas was the son of Jupiter Ha ...
the Gaetulian, "a son of Jupiter Ammon by a raped
Garamantian The Garamantes ( grc, Γαράμαντες, translit=Garámantes; la, Garamantes) were an ancient civilisation based primarily in present-day Libya. They most likely descended from Iron Age Berber tribes from the Sahara, although the earliest k ...
nymph", Iarbas prays to his father, blaming Dido who has scorned marriage with him yet now takes Aeneas into the country as her lord. (4.222f) Jupiter dispatches
Mercury Mercury commonly refers to: * Mercury (planet), the nearest planet to the Sun * Mercury (element), a metallic chemical element with the symbol Hg * Mercury (mythology), a Roman god Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to: Companies * Merc ...
to send Aeneas on his way and the pious Aeneas sadly obeys. Mercury tells Aeneas of all the promising Italian lands and orders Aeneas to get his fleet ready. (4.450f) Dido can no longer bear to live. (4.474) She has her sister Anna build her a pyre under the pretence of burning all that reminded her of Aeneas, including weapons and clothes that Aeneas had left behind and (what she calls) their bridal bed (though, according to Aeneas, they were never officially married.) (4.584f) When Dido sees Aeneas' fleet leaving she curses him and his Trojans and proclaims endless hate between Carthage and the descendants of Troy, foreshadowing the
Punic Wars The Punic Wars were a series of wars between 264 and 146BC fought between Roman Republic, Rome and Ancient Carthage, Carthage. Three conflicts between these states took place on both land and sea across the western Mediterranean region and i ...
. (4.642) Dido ascends the pyre, lies again on the couch which she had shared with Aeneas, and then falls on a sword that Aeneas had given her. (4.666) Those watching let out a cry; Anna rushes in and embraces her dying sister; Juno sends Iris from heaven to release Dido's spirit from her body. (5.1) From their ships, Aeneas and his crew see the glow of Dido's burning funeral pyre and can only guess what has happened. At least two scholars have argued that the inclusion of the pyre as part of Dido's suicide—otherwise unattested in epic and tragedy—alludes to the self-immolation that took the life of Carthage's last queen (or the wife of its general
Hasdrubal the Boetharch Hasdrubal the Boetharch ( xpu, 𐤏𐤆𐤓𐤁𐤏𐤋 , ''ʿAzrubaʿal'') was a Carthaginian general during the Third Punic War. Little is known about him. "Boetharch" was a Carthaginian office, the exact function of which is unclear, but which ...
) in 146 BC. (6.450f) During his journey in the underworld Aeneas meets Dido and tries to excuse himself, but Dido does not deign to look at him. Instead she turns away from Aeneas to a grove where her former husband Sychaeus waits. Virgil has included most of the motifs from the original: Iarbas who desires Dido against her will, a deceitful explanation for the building of the pyre, and Dido's final suicide. In both versions Dido is loyal to her original husband in the end. But whereas the earlier Elissa remained always loyal to her husband's memory, Virgil's Dido dies as a tortured and repentant woman who has fallen away from that loyalty. Virgil consistently uses the form ''Dido'' as nominative, but derivates of ''Elissa'' for the oblique cases.


Later Roman tradition

Letter 7 of Ovid's ''Heroides'' is a fictional letter from Dido to Aeneas written just before she ascends the pyre. The situation is as in Virgil's ''Aeneid''. In Ovid's ''Fasti'' (3.545f) Ovid introduced a kind of sequel involving Aeneas and Dido's sister Anna. See
Anna Perenna Anna Perenna was an old Roman deity of the circle or "ring" of the year, as indicated by the name (''per annum''). Festival Anna Perenna's festival fell on the Ides of March (March 15), which would have marked the first full moon in the year in th ...
. The Barcids, the family to which
Hannibal Hannibal (; xpu, 𐤇𐤍𐤁𐤏𐤋, ''Ḥannibaʿl''; 247 – between 183 and 181 BC) was a Carthaginian general and statesman who commanded the forces of Carthage in their battle against the Roman Republic during the Second Puni ...
belonged, claimed descent from a younger brother of Dido according to
Silius Italicus Tiberius Catius Asconius Silius Italicus (, c. 26 – c. 101 AD) was a Roman senator, orator and Epic poetry, epic poet of the Silver Age of Latin literature. His only surviving work is the 17-book ''Punica (poem), Punica'', an epic poem about th ...
in his ''Punica'' (1.71–7). The ''
Augustan History The ''Historia Augusta'' (English: ''Augustan History'') is a late Roman collection of biographies, written in Latin, of the Roman emperors, their junior colleagues, designated heirs and usurpers from 117 to 284. Supposedly modeled on the sim ...
'' ("Tyrrani Triginta" 27, 30) claims that Zenobia queen of Palmyra in the late third century was descended from
Cleopatra Cleopatra VII Philopator ( grc-gre, Κλεοπάτρα Φιλοπάτωρ}, "Cleopatra the father-beloved"; 69 BC10 August 30 BC) was Queen of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt from 51 to 30 BC, and its last active ruler.She was also a ...
, Dido and Semiramis.


Continuing tradition

In the '' Divine Comedy,'' Dante puts the shade of Dido in the second circle of Hell, where she is condemned (on account of her consuming lust) to be blasted for eternity in a fierce whirlwind. This legend inspired the Renaissance drama '' Dido, Queen of Carthage'' by
Christopher Marlowe Christopher Marlowe, also known as Kit Marlowe (; baptised 26 February 156430 May 1593), was an English playwright, poet and translator of the Elizabethan era. Marlowe is among the most famous of the Elizabethan playwrights. Based upon the ...
. William Shakespeare refers to Dido twelve times in his plays: four times in '' The Tempest'', albeit all in one dialogue, twice in '' Titus Andronicus'', and also in ''
Henry VI Part 2 ''Henry VI, Part 2'' (often written as ''2 Henry VI'') is a Shakespearean history, history play by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1591 and set during the lifetime of King Henry VI of England. Whereas ''Henry VI, Part 1'' ...
'', ''
Antony and Cleopatra ''Antony and Cleopatra'' (First Folio title: ''The Tragedie of Anthonie, and Cleopatra'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. The play was first performed, by the King's Men, at either the Blackfriars Theatre or the Globe Theatre in around ...
'', '' Hamlet'', ''
Romeo and Juliet ''Romeo and Juliet'' is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetim ...
, A Midsummer Night's Dream,'' and most famously in '' The Merchant of Venice'', in Lorenzo's and Jessica's mutual wooing: The story of Dido and Aeneas remained popular throughout the post-Renaissance era and was the basis for many operas, with the libretto by Metastasio, ''Didone abbandonata'', proving especially popular with composers throughout the eighteenth century and beyond: * 1641: ''
La Didone ''Didone'' is an opera by Francesco Cavalli, set to a libretto by Giovanni Francesco Busenello (later librettist for Claudio Monteverdi). The opera was first performed at Venice's Teatro San Cassiano during 1640. The plot is based on Virgil's '' ...
'' by
Francesco Cavalli Francesco Cavalli (born Pietro Francesco Caletti-Bruni; 14 February 1602 – 14 January 1676) was a Republic of Venice, Venetian composer, organist and singer of the early Baroque music, Baroque period. He succeeded his teacher Claudio Monteverd ...
* 1656: ''La Didone'' by Andrea Mattioli * 1689: '' Dido and Aeneas'' by
Henry Purcell Henry Purcell (, rare: September 1659 – 21 November 1695) was an English composer. Purcell's style of Baroque music was uniquely English, although it incorporated Italian and French elements. Generally considered among the greatest E ...
* 1693: '' Didon'' by
Henry Desmarets Henri Desmarets (February 1661 – 7 September 1741) was a French composer of the Baroque period primarily known for his stage works, although he also composed sacred music as well as secular cantatas, songs and instrumental works. Biogr ...
* 1707: ''Dido, Königin von Carthago'' by
Christoph Graupner Christoph Graupner (13 January 1683 – 10 May 1760) was a German composer and harpsichordist of late Baroque music who was a contemporary of Johann Sebastian Bach, Georg Philipp Telemann and George Frideric Handel. Life Born in Hartmannsdorf ...
* 1724: ''Didone abbandonata'' by
Domenico Sarro Domenico Natale Sarro, also Sarri (24 December 1679 – 25 January 1744) was an Italian composer. Born in Trani, Apulia, he studied at the Neapolitan conservatory of S. Onofrio. He composed extensively in the early 18th century. His opera ''Didon ...
* 1726: ''Didone abbandonata'' by Leonardo Vinci * 1740: ''Didone abbandonata'' by
Baldassare Galuppi Baldassare Galuppi (18 October 17063 January 1785) was an Italian composer, born on the island of Burano in the Venetian Republic. He belonged to a generation of composers, including Johann Adolph Hasse, Giovanni Battista Sammartini, and C.  ...
* 1742: ''Didone abbandonata'' by
Johann Adolph Hasse Johann Adolph Hasse (baptised 25 March 1699 – 16 December 1783) was an 18th-century German composer, singer and teacher of music. Immensely popular in his time, Hasse was best known for his prolific operatic output, though he also composed a co ...
* 1747: ''Didone abbandonata'' by
Niccolò Jommelli Niccolò Jommelli (; 10 September 1714 – 25 August 1774) was an Italian composer of the Neapolitan School. Along with other composers mainly in the Holy Roman Empire and France, he was responsible for certain operatic reforms including redu ...
* 1762: ''
Didone abbandonata ''Didone abbandonata'' is an opera libretto in three acts by Pietro Metastasio. It was his first original work and was set to music by Domenico Sarro in 1724. The opera was accompanied by the intermezzo '' L'impresario delle Isole Canarie'', also ...
'' by Giuseppe Sarti * 1770: ''Didone abbandonata'' by Niccolò Piccinni * 1783: '' Didon'' by Niccolò Piccinni * 1823: ''Didone abbandonata'' by
Saverio Mercadante Giuseppe Saverio Raffaele Mercadante (baptised 17 September 179517 December 1870) was an Italian composer, particularly of operas. While Mercadante may not have retained the international celebrity of Gaetano Donizetti or Gioachino Rossini beyond ...
* 1860: ''
Les Troyens ''Les Troyens'' (; in English: ''The Trojans'') is a French grand opera in five acts by Hector Berlioz. The libretto was written by Berlioz himself from Virgil's epic poem the ''Aeneid''; the score was composed between 1856 and 1858. ''Les Tro ...
'' by
Hector Berlioz In Greek mythology, Hector (; grc, Ἕκτωρ, Hektōr, label=none, ) is a character in Homer's Iliad. He was a Trojan prince and the greatest warrior for Troy during the Trojan War. Hector led the Trojans and their allies in the defense o ...
* 2007: ''Aeneas and Dido'' by
James Rolfe (composer) James Simon Rolfe (born 1961) is a Canadian composer of contemporary music. Early life and education Rolfe was born in Ottawa, Ontario. He studied composition with John Beckwith at the University of Toronto and Jo Kondo in Japan. Career Rol ...
Also from the 17th century is a ballad inspired by the relationship between Dido and Aeneas. The ballad, often printed on a
broadside Broadside or broadsides may refer to: Naval * Broadside (naval), terminology for the side of a ship, the battery of cannon on one side of a warship, or their near simultaneous fire on naval warfare Printing and literature * Broadside (comic ...
, is called "
The Wandering Prince of Troy "The Wandering Prince of Troy" is an early modern ballad that provides an account of the interactions between Aeneas, the mythical founder of Rome, and Dido, queen of Carthage. Although the earliest surviving copy of this ballad dates to c. 1630, t ...
", and it alters the end of the relationship between the two lovers, rethinking Dido's final sentiment for Aeneas and rewriting Aeneas's visit to the underworld as Dido's choice to haunt him. In 1794 Germany, Charlotte von Stein wrote her own drama named ''Dido'', with an autobiographical element—as von Stein had been forsaken by her own lover, the famous Goethe, in a manner which she found reminiscent of Aeneas. Will Adams' 2014
thriller Thriller may refer to: * Thriller (genre), a broad genre of literature, film and television ** Thriller film, a film genre under the general thriller genre Comics * ''Thriller'' (DC Comics), a comic book series published 1983–84 by DC Comics i ...
''The City of the Lost''Will Adams,''The City of the Lost'', HarperCollins, London, 2014, ISBN 978-0-00-742427-6 assumes that Dido fled only as far as Cyprus and founded a city on the site of modern
Famagusta Famagusta ( , ; el, Αμμόχωστος, Ammóchostos, ; tr, Gazimağusa or ) is a city on the east coast of Geography of Cyprus, Cyprus. It is located east of Nicosia District, Nicosia and possesses the deepest harbour of the island. Duri ...
, that she died there and that Carthage was founded later, when Dido's followers fled further west after a vengeful expedition arrived from Tyre. In this interpretation, the two flights - from Tyre to Cyprus and from Cyprus to Carthage - were combined in later historical memory and all attributed to Dido. In Adams' account, the startling discovery of Dido's hideout and her well-preserved body happens accidentally during an attempted Coup D'etat by Turkish Army officers based in Cyprus. In another modern interpretation, Dido appears in Sid Meier's strategy games ''
Civilization II ''Sid Meier's Civilization II'' is a turn-based strategy video game in the Civilization (series), ''Civilization'' series, developed and published by MicroProse. It was released in 1996 for personal computer, PCs, and later ported to the PlayS ...
'' and ''
Civilization V ''Sid Meier's Civilization V'' is a 4X video game in the ''Civilization'' series developed by Firaxis Games. The game was released on Microsoft Windows on September 21, 2010, on OS X on November 23, 2010, and on Linux on June 10, 2014. In ''C ...
'', as the leader of the Carthaginian civilization, although she appears alongside Hannibal in the former. In
Civilization V ''Sid Meier's Civilization V'' is a 4X video game in the ''Civilization'' series developed by Firaxis Games. The game was released on Microsoft Windows on September 21, 2010, on OS X on November 23, 2010, and on Linux on June 10, 2014. In ''C ...
, she speaks Phoenician, with a modern Israeli accent. In 2019, Dido was made the leader of Phoenicia in '' Civilization VI: Gathering Storm'', with Tyre as its capital and Carthage as an available name for subsequent cities. In honor of Dido, the asteroid
209 Dido Dido (minor planet designation: 209 Dido) is a main-belt asteroid with a diameter of . It was discovered by C. H. F. Peters on October 22, 1879, in Clinton, New York and was named after the mythical Carthaginian queen Dido. This asteroid is orbit ...
, discovered in 1879, was named after her. Another dedication of Queen Dido is the
Mount Dido Mount Dido () is a prominent peak, high, between Mount Electra and Mount Boreas in the Olympus Range of Victoria Land, Antarctica. It was named by the Victoria University of Wellington Antarctic Expedition The Antarctic Research Centre (ARC) is p ...
in Antarctica. Remembrance of the story of the bull's hide and the foundation of Carthage is preserved in mathematics in connection with the Isoperimetric problem which is sometimes called Dido's Problem (and similarly the Isoperimetric theorem is sometimes called Dido's Theorem). It is sometimes stated in such discussion that Dido caused her thong to be placed as a half circle touching the sea coast at each end (which would add greatly to the area) but the sources mention the thong only and say nothing about the sea. Carthage was the Roman Republic's greatest rival and enemy, and Virgil's Dido in part symbolises this. Even though no Rome existed in her day, Virgil's Dido curses the future progeny of the Trojans. In Italy during the Fascist administration of the 1920s to 1940s, she was regarded as a rival and sometimes negative figure, perhaps not only as a symbol of Rome's nemesis, but because she represented together at least three other unpleasant qualities: her reputation for promiscuity, her Semitic race, and for being a symbol of Rome's erstwhile rival Carthage. As an example, when the streets of new quarters in Rome were named after the characters of Virgil's ''Aeneid'', only the name ''Dido'' did not appear.


Notes


Selected bibliography

* H. Akbar Khan, ''"Doctissima Dido": Etymology, Hospitality and the Construction of a Civilized Identity'', 2002. *
Elmer Bagby Atwood Elmer is a name of Germanic languages, Germanic Culture of the United Kingdom, British origin. The given name originated as a surname, a medieval variant of the given name Aylmer, derived from Old English ''æþel'' (noble) and ''mær'' (famous). ...
, ''Two Alterations of Virgil in Chaucer's Dido'', 1938. * S. Conte, ''Dido sine veste'', 2005. *
R. S. Conway Robert Seymour Conway, FBA (1864–1933) was a British classical scholar and comparative philologist. Born in Stoke Newington, he was the elder brother of Katharine St John Conway. He was Hulme Professor of Latin Literature, at Victoria Unive ...
, ''The Place of Dido in History'', 1920. * F. Della Corte, ''La Iuno-Astarte virgiliana'', 1983. * G. De Sanctis, ''Storia dei Romani'', 1916. * * M. Fantar, ''Carthage, la prestigieuse cité d'Elissa'', 1970. * L. Foucher, ''Les Phéniciens à Carthage ou la geste d'Elissa'', 1978. * Michael Grant, ''Roman Myths'', 1973. * M. Gras/P. Rouillard/J. Teixidor, ''L'univers phénicien'', 1995. * H.D. Gray, ''Did Shakespeare write a tragedy of Dido?'', 1920. * G. Herm, ''Die Phönizier'', 1974. * T. Kailuweit, ''Dido – Didon – Didone. Eine kommentierte Bibliographie zum Dido-Mythos in Literatur und Musik'', 2005. * R.C. Ketterer, ''The perils of Dido: sorcery and melodrama in Vergil's Aeneid IV and Purcell's Dido and Aeneas'', 1992. * R.H. Klausen, ''Aeneas und die Penaten'', 1839. * G. Kowalski, ', 1929. * A. La Penna, Didone, in Enciclopedia Virgiliana, II, 1985, 48–57 * F.N. Lees, ''Dido Queen of Carthage and The Tempest'', 1964. * J.-Y. Maleuvre, ''Contre-Enquête sur la mort de Didon'', 2003. * J.-Y. Maleuvre, ''La mort de Virgile d’après Horace et Ovide'', 1993; * L. Mangiacapre, ''Didone non è morta'', 1990. * P.E. McLane, ''The Death of a Queen: Spencer's Dido as Elizabeth'', 1954. * O. Meltzer, ''Geschichte der Karthager'', 1879. * A. Michel, ''Virgile et la politique impériale: un courtisan ou un philosophe?'', 1971. * R.C. Monti, ''The Dido Episode and the Aeneid: Roman Social and Political Values in the Epic'', 1981. * S. Moscati, ''Chi furono i Fenici. Identità storica e culturale di un popolo protagonista dell'antico mondo mediterraneo'', 1992. * R. Neuse, ''Book VI as Conclusion to The Faerie Queene'', 1968. * * * * A. Parry, ''The Two Voices of Virgil's Aeneid'', 1963. * G.K. Paster, ''Montaigne, Dido and The Tempest: "How Came That Widow In?'', 1984. * B. Schmitz, ''Ovide, In Ibin: un oiseau impérial'', 2004; * E. Stampini, ''Alcune osservazioni sulla leggenda di Enea e Didone nella letteratura romana'', 1893; * A. Ziosi, Didone regina di Cartagine di Christopher Marlowe. Metamorfosi virgiliane nel Cinquecento, 2015; * A. Ziosi, Didone. La tragedia dell'abbandono. Variazioni sul mito (Virgilio, Ovidio, Boccaccio, Marlowe, Metastasio, Ungaretti, Brodskij), 2017.


Primary sources

*Virgil, ''Aeneid i.338–368'' *Justinus, ''Epitome Historiarum philippicarum Pompei Trogi xviii.4.1–6, 8''


External links

Selected English texts (''Alternate links found in Wikipedia entries for the respective authors.'')
Forum Romanum: Justin 18.3f
(Contains Justin (18.3–6) relating the early story of Elissa in full.)
Translation of Virgil's works including the ''Aeneid''
by
A. S. Kline A is the first letter of the Latin and English alphabet. A may also refer to: Science and technology Quantities and units * ''a'', a measure for the attraction between particles in the Van der Waals equation * ''A'' value, a measure of ...

Ovid's imagined letter from Dido to Aeneas, trans. Miceal F. Vaughan
(See also Ovid.)
Appian, ''The Punic Wars'', chapter 1
(See also Appian.)
Dido, Queen of Carthage
, original text, modernization, and discussion of Chaucer's ''Legend of Dido''
''The Tragedy of Dido, Queen of Carthage'', by Christopher Marlowe (and Thomas Nashe?)
(See also
Christopher Marlowe Christopher Marlowe, also known as Kit Marlowe (; baptised 26 February 156430 May 1593), was an English playwright, poet and translator of the Elizabethan era. Marlowe is among the most famous of the Elizabethan playwrights. Based upon the ...
.) Commentary
Greek Mythology Link: Dido

Queen Dido: Didone Liberata
(Mostly about a new four-act play by Salvatore Conte; it contains also a confutation of the well-known suicide into a subjective vision of Aeneas and his "comites" – 4.664, followed by Dido's catabasis)
Warburg Institute Iconographic Database (about 900 images related to the Aeneid – Dido appears in Books I and IV)
{{Authority control 9th-century BC Punic people 9th-century BC women rulers Africa in Roman mythology Ancient African women Ancient Greeks in Africa Ancient queens regnant Carthaginian mythology Carthaginian women Characters in Book VI of the Aeneid Deified women Legendary Greek people Legendary rulers Monarchs of Carthage Mythological city founders Phoenician characters in the Aeneid Tunisian women Women rulers in Africa Articles containing video clips